Stocks dip as US stops stimulus

World financial markets stalled on Friday as news US Treasury was ending emergency loans programmes dealt a blow to economic recovery hopes.

S&P500 futures slipped 0.5 per cent while Dow futures fell 0.6 per cent, cancelling out a firmer lead from a strong Wall Street session overnight.

The dollar was slightly weaker and the 10-year Treasury yield slipped to the lowest in 10 days at 0.818 per cent.

Eurostoxx futures started almost flat while London’s FTSE futures was up 0.25 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei stumbled 0.5 per cent while Australian shares were flat.

Chinese shares were little changed while South Korea’s KOSPI index was a shade firmer.